photo by: Kansas Department of Corrections

Garnel Andreus Moore Williams

Several people were held at gunpoint over the weekend and some were strip-searched after a man claimed money had been stolen from him at an apartment on Michigan Street, according to Lawrence police.

LPD’s Crisis Response Team was activated early Sunday morning to execute a search warrant after the people had been held for nearly three hours.

Patrol officers said they found an injured man at about 3 a.m. The man, who said he had been hit with a firearm, had dried blood on him and a significant gash on the side of his head, police said.

The incident started about midnight in an apartment at 3250 Michigan St. Police said it appeared that the injured man was at a friend’s house with about eight other people when one of the men said someone had stolen money from him. The man got angry, pulled a firearm and told people to not leave until he found the money. After about three hours, which included strip-searching some individuals, the man told everyone to leave the apartment, police said.

Officers set up a perimeter, waited for the man to leave, and safely took him into custody just after sunrise. The Crisis Response Team later entered the apartment to perform the search. Officers located the weapon they believe the man used.

The injured man was taken to the hospital for treatment.

The Douglas County Jail booking log indicates that a 31-year-old man named Garnel Andreus Moore Williams was arrested Sunday morning at the Michigan Street address on suspicion of aggravated robbery, aggravated assault and a parole violation.

The Kansas Department of Corrections indicates that Moore Williams has served prison time and has been convicted of numerous felonies, including drug possession in 2017 in Douglas County, burglary in 2014 in Douglas County, and aggravated assault, robbery and criminal discharge of a firearm at an occupied dwelling/vehicle in 2018 in Shawnee County.